WEBVTT SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL AND A NATIONALLY KNOWN RAPE VICTIM'S ADVOCATE WERE IN LOUISVILLE TODAY. THEY ARE CALLING ON THE SENATE TO PASS A BILL TO REDUCE A BACKLOG OF RAPE KITS. THOUSANDS ARE STILL SITTING ON SHELVES IN KENTUCKY. IT IS A PROBLEM W-L-K-Y'S MARK VANDERHOFF FIRST INVESTIGATED LAST MONTH. TONIGHT, HE TELLS US WHY THE BILL IS BEING HELD UP. Debbie Smith: It was this very basket, number six, that stored the rape evidence kit that would eventually deliver peace to my heart and allow me to truly live again. DEBBIE SMITH'S ATTACKER WASN'T CAUGHT UNTIL SIX YEARS AFTER HER RAPE... BECAUSE OF DELAYS TESTING D-N-A SAMPLES. SPEAKING AT THE KENTUCKY STATE POLICE CRIME LAB TODAY, SHE RECALLED THE LONG WAIT. Debbie Smith: I thought I had found a fate that was worse than death. A RECENT W-L-K-Y INVESTIGATION FOUND SIMILAR DELAYS IN KENTUCKY. THE STATE CRIME LAB HAD 500 RAPE KITS WAITING TO BE TESTED... WITH AN AVERAGE WAIT OF MORE THAN ONE YEAR. LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE HAS NO IDEA HOW BIG THEIR BACKLOG IS... SINCE OUR INVESTIGATION, THEY HAVE BEGUN TO SORT THROUGH THOUSANDS OF D-N-A SAMPLES THEY HAVE IN STORAGE. THE 2004 DEBBIE SMITH ACT CREATED GRANTS TO HELP LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES CLEAR THOSE BACKLOGS. BUT NOW IT'S ABOUT TO EXPIRE... AND IS CAUGHT UP IN POLITICS. Mitch McConnell: There's no opposition to it. It is simply being used in order to pass yet another bill, which I also support, but the House does not and we're running out of time here. SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL SAYS DEMOCRATS WON'T RENEW THE DEBBIE SMITH ACT. BUT DEMOCRATS SAY THEY WANT TO PASS THE JUSTICE FOR ALL ACT... WHICH CONTAINS EVERYTHING IN THE DEBBIE SMITH ACT AND MORE. HOUSE REPUBLICANS OPPOSE THE JUSTICE FOR ALL ACT AND HAVE ALREADY PASSED THE DEBBIE SMITH ACT. Mitch McConnell: So what we're saying is send the Debbie Smith Bill on down to the president, get a signature. DEBBIE SMITH CALLED THE POLITICS, QUOTE, FRUSTRATING. Debbie Smith: As a mom, and homemaker, I'm saying, if you agree on this, let's send it through to keep it from lapsing in time and from any lapse in money, and we can flush the other out, or they can flush the other out later. THE SENATE HAS UNTIL THE END OF SEPTEMBER BEFORE THE DEBBIE SMITH ACT EXPIRES. MARK VANDERHOFF, W-L-K-Y NEWS. THE SENATE ALSO HAS TO